Have you ever thought how dangerous it would be if an emergency situation arises and your fire extinguisher does not work? The law demands that the fire extinguishers in commercial and public spaces need to be checked at regular intervals to ensure their effectiveness. Hence, they would be inspected regularly and maintained rightly by some expert fire extinguisher company. There are no such regulations to the fire extinguishers in residential homes, and so most of the home owners are negligent to the maintenance of extinguishers. But this should not be the case!

If you look at the reports of www.firstcoastnews.com, it is apparent that fire accidents are not so rare these days. If some fire accident occurs in your premises and it is found out later that your fire extinguisher is not maintained perfectly, then you may be under huge liabilities. So, it is a must that you give enough importance to the routine maintenance of your fire extinguishers. The system of the fire extinguishers is so complex that if they are not inspected at regular intervals and their functionality is not checked, then they may not work properly when required.

Is professional maintenance a necessity?
You yourself can do monthly inspections to ensure they are alright, but annual maintenance must be done by an expert professional. The following are the things which a professional technician would do in his yearly examination of the fire extinguisher.
· Checks for any external damage
· Makes sure the powder in the extinguisher can flow freely
· Checks the weight of the extinguishing agent and ensures that the volume is right
· Inspects the pressure and makes sure it is proper
All these steps should be done with extreme care using the right equipment. Apart from the yearly inspections, a much more detailed examination has to be carried once in six years. The extinguisher parts have to be separated, and each part has to be inspected. This process is really dangerous and must be done only by a qualified and experienced professional.

Do the fire extinguishers have an expiry date?
Fire extinguisher mainly comes in two forms- rechargeable types and the disposable types. The rechargeable type needs to be serviced once in ten years. A needle indicates the time to recharge the extinguisher, and when the time comes, you have to get it serviced and recharged.
The disposable ones require servicing every month and hence maintaining them is a little hectic. They would last more than that of the rechargeable type and hence they are the commonly used types. But they are useless once their contents are over and have to be disposed of.

Whatever is the type of the extinguisher you are using, you must learn to use it properly and dispose it carefully and safely once its life is over.

So, do not overlook the above-described points at any cost! Safety should be your primary concern. Take care of your safety gadgets so that they ensure your safety when required. Check the tag of your fire extinguisher now! If you have no inspection record, it’s high time! Do it soon!